Tenant’s refund lost in the downpour

The downpour on June 5 lasted into the night and caused roads to flood and also filled basements around the Capital Region. On the roof of 582 Park Ave. in Albany, a drain clogged and the water rose higher.

Eventually, just before 6 a.m., the water began leaking into the apartment of Robert Brady, and finally the drop-ceiling collapsed into the living room and bathroom. Brady was working the night shift at Albany Medical Center Hospital where he is a security guard, but his girlfriend, Mary Valerio, was home at the time, getting ready for work.
“I heard this ‘crick, crick, crick,’ and it just went, “boom,” she said.

She called the property manager, Merill Greenberg of Capital Assets Management and reported the damage. Brady did his best to salvage his property, which includes a collection of guitars and electronic keyboards, a computer, television and video cassettes.
The apartment was declared “unfit for human habitation” by the Albany Fire Department. Brady salvaged some of his property but many items, including his computer, were destroyed by water.

Fortunately, a coworker of Brady’s had an empty apartment in Albany’s Center Square neighborhood and told the couple they could move right in. And that’s where they have been since the storm.Brady contaced me because he hadn’t heard fromCapital Assets Management, which owes him money. When the ceiling fell in he had already paid his $520 rent for June. He wants a refund from June 6 to June 30, about $440. In addition, he wants his security deposit back, which was another $520. He lived in the apartment for 20 years, stayed current on his rent, and had hardly any contact with the landlord in that time, he said.

“They told me it was going to be 30 days. Well it’s been a lot longer than that,” said Brady.He said he called Greenberg several times, the last time in early July, and is worried that his refund has fallen through the cracks. I made a few phone calls and discovered that is exactly what happened.

I spoke to Greenberg Friday morning and he acknowledged he owed Brady money, but said he believed his company had already paid it.
“It’s not our money. We’re just the property managers,” Greenberg said. “If we owe somebody the money, we pay them.”

I pointed out that Brady hadn’t apparently been paid yet, and Greenberg promised to look into it. But first, he got his licks in on his former tenant. He described Valerio, Brady’s girlfriend as “a complainer.” And he also said Brady was more canny and calculating than a first impression might lead you to believe. He said the damage to Brady’s apartment “wasn’t that bad” and that when tenants want to punish landlords, they call code enforcement agents. “They’ll declare it ‘unfit for habitation’ more often than not,” Greenberg said.
OK, that’s Greenberg’s two cents. Here’s mine. Clearly, $900 and change means a lot to Robert Brady and when he called me wondering where his money was, his concern was real. I think property managers need to remember that tenants are customers and should be treated as such.

Greenberg asked me to call his office manager Friday afternoon. The office manager saw a note had been attached to Brady’s file that he should receive his security deposit in full and half of June’s rent. The office manager said it seemed someone was supposed to have taken care of Brady’s check but it simply didn’t happen. Why only half of June’s rent? Because apparently Brady didn’t return the keys to the ruined apartment until June 16. I think if Brady presses the issue he might persuade Greenberg to give him an additional week’s rent back, from the date the apartment was ruled unfit for habitation, and not the date on which Greenberg received the keys. Seems to me it would be the right thing to do.